Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-01-21
PASTE JEWELRY IS POPULAR.
Some of the Clever limitations and How
They are manufactured.

Some of the Clever limitations and How
They are Manufactured.
1.-THE number of imitation diamonds
worn these days is enormous, said a
fashionable ieweler on Broadway to re-
porter.
"What limitations are most worm"
''The double diamond, clever imita-
ton produced by splitting worthless or
defective stone and backing it with tinfoil.
Diamonds of this kind have to be carefully
mounted or else detection will be easy
The business of intensifying the sparkle of
pale, cheap diamond is now reduced TO
a science. Gems arc frequently split in
two, deeper tone of color introduced and
they are joined together again, producinga
stone that has u beautiful fire and that
which sells for three or four times its
original value. The 'doublet business is
extremely profitable, but, of course, no
reputable dealer can afford to sell any
without injuring his trade and reputation.
\ lapidary, one Zocolino, invented the
'dOublet' many years ago. He used a bit
of crystal as a bottom to makeup, and
painted it with transparent glue. He then
joined together two cheap thin stones, and
produced a gem that appeared finer than
the real. 1t wss not long before his
method was detected
The quartz gems are popular and come
next to the 'doublets' in clever counterfeit.
They are gems of course of their kind, but
not what they are often sold for. Quartz
can stand the test Of the file, which glass
cannot do, hence its availability There
are other stones and certain varieties of
topaz which are as hard as diamonds: and
being colorless they are frequently cut and
polished and passed as diamonds of the
first water. Of late colorless gem material
has gone up in prices owing to the de-
mand from the bogus diamond manufact-
urers. Then there are the paste diamonds,
so easily taken by amateurs for genuine.
The composition of paste gems is a mix
trlre of violin glass and horay These
manufactured stones are very hard to de
teet, and sometimes find their way into
rich families who are unwittingly imposed
upon. The glittering gems that can be
seen on Broadway after the matinces are
over, half the time are clever limitations,
either doublets, quartz or paste.
But at the swell society balls | confess
the gems worn there by the wealthy are
genuine. Extremely wealthy people are
not easily imposed upon; they always have
| a ieweler who examines carefully their
gems before they are purchased The very
moderately well-to-do people are often de-
| ceived. and young men who want diamonds
to sparkle before their swecthearts. Some
of them, though, go boldly and ask for the
limitations and disport them as genuine.
Mock pearls are frequently seen, too, but
the diamond is initiated more than any
precious stone. The ruby is sometimes
| manufactured from a recipe which COM
| prises twenty parts of antimony and glass,
500 of strass. half each of purple of
| CaSSium and gold. Aventurine is also a
gem glass frequently used in limitations.
| These limitations of course have some effect
upon the sale of genuine gems, but not to
an extent that is rrIinous. Think, though,
that all jewelers. who sell limitations should
deal exclusively in such goods and so ad-
vcrtise. The harm comes from the attempt
to palm off counterfeits for real stones. =
| New York Mail and Express.